Description
Book SynopsisA pathbreaking history of the regulatory foundations of America''s twentieth-century aerial preeminence.
Today, the federal government possesses unparalleled authority over the atmosphere of the United States. Yet when the Wright Brothers inaugurated the air age on December 17, 1903, the sky was an unregulated frontier. As increasing numbers of aircraft threatened public safety in subsequent decades and World War I accentuated national security concerns about aviation, the need for government intervention became increasingly apparent. But where did authority over the airplane reside within America''s federalist system? And what should US policy look like for a device that could readily travel over physical barriers and political borders?
In Sovereign Skies, Sean Seyer provides a radically new understanding of the origins of American aviation policy in the first decades of the twentieth century. Drawing on the concept of mental models from cognitive science,
Table of Contents
Preface
Introduction
Chapter One. Where Does the Regulatory Power Lie? Transportation and Federalism before World War I
Chapter Two. World War I and the Internationalization of American Aviation Policy
Chapter Three. Debating the Administrative Framework for Federal Control
Chapter Four. The Struggle for Legislation
Chapter Five. The Need for Regulatory Compatibility
Chapter Six. Shattered Expectations: An Air Convention for the Western Hemisphere
Conclusion
Notes
Index
